From a 2 to a 10 (and Everything In Between)

 ...and I'm not talking about my dress size.

🙈

In a (somewhat) un-ending (well??) quest to locate my elusive hooking mojo, I once again wandered down the lane to Red Barn Rugs.

I didn't find it (the mojo, I mean...I found the Red Barn of course). But I did find myself in the company of some incredibly talented hookers.

Since I didn't accomplish any hooking and was not successful in finding that mojo, ya think I would have managed to at least take some more (and better) photos; but it seems when one thing goes missing, others do as well.

Be it as it may, I did come away with a few snippets from the day.

Miss Marilyn (a/k/a "Good Marilyn") was working on her own design of which I did not get a photograph.  I was too amazed at the bag of so-called "worms" she was working from.  I call them dental floss.  YIKES!  I do believe they were 2 and 3 cuts.

Seriously?? Who does that??!

(For you non-hookers who are still with me, the smaller the number of the cut, the thinner the strip of wool is that one pulls through the foundation...so 2's and 3's, like in dresses, are wee thin.)

Anyway, I did manage to get a photo of her precious Charlie rug.

Yeah...it was done in dental floss too.  But as precious as her real Charlie.

Some of you may remember Marilyn's tribute to her grandparents' engagement ("Marry Me Mary") that she hooked several years ago and I had on my blog...also years ago. 

Yeah, THAT Marilyn.

This rug still stuns me.

Rumor has it that Marilyn will be having another rug featured in Rug Hooking's Celebration.

Good Marilyn was scheduled for surgery the following day.... If you're out there reading this Marilyn, I hope you're recovering well. (And thank you for your so very kind words.)

Pat was putting the finishing touches on "Southwest Geometric," by Cathy (Red Barn Rugs*).  This is one big rug...and, yup, done in pretty small cuts, although no 2's or 3's.

And then there was Bad Marilyn. 

(She is one BAD Marilyn, let me tell you.)

Again, I did not get a photo of her current project (DUH!!), but I did get a photo of her David Galchutt "Witch."  

Who needs a fancy title with all THIS??!

Try as I might, I just couldn't capture the color or the details...so many details! 

So many varied textiles (I particularly fell in love with the black chenille), so many embellishments... It was one of those pieces you could look at a dozen times and always find something new to squeal about.

And, yeah...those teeny, tiny, cuts.

Cathy* had finished hooking her new "Colonial Eagle" pattern...she just needed to finish the binding.  I could drown myself in this background...it's that good.

And, yeah...Cathy hooks with 10 cuts.  (Actually, I think this one was done in 9.5?? but who's counting??) 

As for the "in between," that would be me...if I ever got any actual hooking done.  My "sweet spot" is an 8 or an 8.5.

I have no updates on "Welcome Cats" (or any other of my started-but-finished projects).  So you are probably wondering what it is I did do if I neither hooked nor took decent photos.  Well, about all I did was work a little on binding my "13 Stars" mat.  Very little...but I did finally finish it up a few days later.

{Design by The Old Tattered Flat}

It's not perfect, but it's done...and, in my world, done is good these days.

*******

I've fallen a bit behind on the "current reads" since I haven't posted much (but I continue to read).  This is the book I finished up last week (I think??):

Kristin Hannah is the author of one of my very favorite books The Nightingale, and I have read many (most?) of her books.  I have enjoyed them all, but none as much as The Nightingale.  This one is one of her older books and I am not certain why I hadn't read it before...probably because it was described as a "love story."  (Yeah...just not in the mood for those lately.)

But Cathy and I swap books and she had this one so I read it.

It is, indeed, a love story...of sorts...but also much more.  It is actually a story within a story set both in modern (well, early 2000's) time and in war-era Lenigrad.  Would I recommend it? Yes...It was not as good as The Nightingale, but it was a refreshing change from some of the "darker" things in which I tend to get mired.

******

*For the hookers:  I believe I may have confused some readers in my last post and perhaps in this one as well.  Let me clarify:  "Red Barn Rugs" is Catherine (a/k/a Cathy) Stephan's business.  And to answer several questions from my last post, no, she does not have a website.  She, does, however, have a Facebook page (search under her name, Catherine Stephan, and when you find the red barn, you've found the right one).  Many of her designs are listed in albums under the "photos" tab on her page...but she has so many more.  You can keep up with her newest designs by following her Facebook posts. 

******

That's it for now.... 

Beware the Ides of March.

Playdate at Red Barn Rugs

{The red barn at Red Barn Rugs}

Somewhere down the back roads of the farthest reaches of Nod, during the cold, snowy, and blustery days of February's end, seven (somewhat) like-minded people came together for three days of camaraderie, shenanigans, wool fondling (a LOT of wool fondling), shenanigans, amazing food, shenanigans, and a little (rug) hooking.

I am not sure why I didn't get better photos as I certainly wasn't busy hooking, but I am sharing what photos I did remember to take.

Cindy's start on "Cabbage Rose" (a Red Barn Rugs design):

Cindy was also working on a tribute rug to her furever beloved Holly:

A close-up:

Barb was building a fluffy sheep:

Although she was one of the main shenanigators, she had made good progress by the end of the three days:

Nancy (a native South Carolinian who came all the way from Minn-eh-sota) was also a main shenanigator - but she also got top honors for wool fondling (and thievery).  She was working on Cathy's (the genius behind Red Barn Rugs) new "Colonial Eagle" design:

{Sorry for the wonky photo...Nancy's from Minnesota don'tcha know?}

She also got some help with finishing touches for her "Winter Berries" sheep:

Just look at that face!

Mel (mostly) behaved and so got a lot done on "Bossie."  I love her spotted cow (a tribute to the famous brew from a certain brewery in New Glarus.  Hey, it's a Wisconsin thing.)  (And Mel, you are so right: Dogs ought really not have 5 legs. 😂)

{"Bossie" by Jill Peterson}

Lisa joined us on the last day only.  I know she brought more rugs with her, but these were the only two I caught photos of:

{Does this look familiar?? It should...it's an antique adaptation that Saundra of Woodland Junction (relatively) recently hooked and she drew this pattern (which she calls "White Horse With Scrolls") for Lisa.}

...and

{A Carol Weatherman (Pine Island Primitives) design...not sure of the name.}

{LOVE that walkway wool!!}

Cathy (in the rare moments when she was not quelling shenanigans helping the minions or busy making the best "lunches" EVER) was working on her newest design, "Colonial Eagle:"

{I am so doing this one!!}

My sincere apologies to Ellen....I did not get a photo of her rug, but she was also working on Cathy's new "Colonial Eagle."

As for me, well, yes, I was one of the main wool fondlers but I KNOW someone (you know who you are) will ask what I worked on.  I am not sure there was actually any true progress since I spent most of my time trying to figure out if the wool I had stuffed in with this project (the many years ago I put it aside) actually went with this project.

Yikes.

Oh...and there was a wee bit of puppy fondling going on too.  🐶

{Cindy snuggling with Cathy's Raffi}

*******

I have neglected to mention my "reads" in the last few posts and know I have missed some...but this is the one I just finished up:

Jodi Picoult is one of my very favorite authors.  I was riveted to this book as tightly as I have been to her others but, in this case, it was likely more because of the setting and backstory: Egypt and Egyptology.

(Archaeology/Anthropology was one of my very first loves.  It was my primary degree in college and I actually toyed with Egyptology as a specialty - but that, once again, is another story for another time.)

As with her previous books, Picoult takes on a timely social issue in The Book of Two Ways:  In this case, she centers the plot around the ancient Egyptian "Book of Two Ways" often found in ancient tombs which is essentially a guidebook or map for the afterlife, but makes it a metaphor for the choices we make while on earth.

Would I recommend it? Yes...but with the proviso that you might not like it as much as I did unless you, too, are a closet Egyptologist.

*******

Now...back to the shenanigans.